Landslide Damages Nitehawk Chairlift

Peter Landsman13 Comments
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Photo credit: Johnathan Clarkson

Ground movement has impacted the only chairlift at Nitehawk Adventure Park, a community ski area located in Grande Prairie, Alberta.  Multiple lift towers were caught up when the slide occurred around 3:00 am Tuesday.

Nitehawk staff had been monitoring slow movement this spring and preemptively took chairs and sheave assemblies off the lift.  The ski area had also de-tensioned the Yan triple chair, which first opened in 1994.  The lift started servicing a downhill bike park in 2007.

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Photo credit: Johnathan Clarkson

Nitehawk is operated by the nonprofit Grande Prairie Ski Club.  “We’re thankful this event occurred when no one was on location,” said Board Vice President Whitney Wild in a statement. “Our Board of Directors and management are working with geotechnical professionals to determine next steps and possible solutions,” she continued.  “Nitehawk is no stranger to facing and overcoming adversity.  Operating a successful community ski hill in Northern Alberta is no easy feat.  Our resiliency, along with the incredibly supportive community, will help us deal with this new challenge head on.”

News Roundup: Graduation Season

Peter Landsman21 Comments

 

News Roundup: More Skiing?

Peter Landsman15 Comments
  • Mt. Baldy runs out of snow, ending North American lift served skiing for now.
  • Aspen Skiing Company expresses frustration with the Colorado governor’s order for ski resorts to remain closed until at least May 23rd.
  • Arapahoe Basin still wants to reopen.
  • Oregon may beat Colorado to the punch.
  • Eaglecrest, Alaska joins the Powder Alliance.
  • Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory says his company is well-capitalized and delayed projects should be completed next year (plus he’s still looking to buy more resorts!)
  • Skeetawk completes its chairlift, becoming the first new ski area in Alaska since 1983.
  • Mountain planner Paul Mathews of Ecosign talks about the development of Sun Peaks and future plans in the West Bowl and the Gil’s areas.
  • Norwegian Cruise Line reiterates its commitment to Alaska including the funding of two gondolas currently under construction in Hoonah.
  • As part of a land swap, the Yellowstone Club seeks to gain 500 acres of expert terrain.
  • Cuchara remains on track to reopen next year with one lift.
  • The Utah Department of Transportation will evaluate gondolas from the Salt Lake Valley and Park City as two possible options to improve mobility in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
  • Doppelmayr’s first Wir magazine of 2020 highlights new installations from around the world.

Following Cancellations, How Will Lift Construction Recover?

Peter Landsman14 Comments

When Vail Resorts spelled out its suspension of operations in mid-March, the shutdown was hoped to last only a week.  Fifty days later, all 37 resorts remain shuttered and the company has borrowed more than a billion dollars to weather a possible extended recession.

Almost immediately, Vail Resorts postponed discretionary capital improvement projects including seven new chairlifts.  Vail is just one of numerous operators of lifts facing epic challenges due to COVID-19.  The impacts trickle down to suppliers, particularly global suppliers of large machinery like the Leitner Group and Doppelmayr.  While the two major lift manufacturers are of similar size and structure, their customers are incredibly diverse, from mom and pop outfits to governments, NGOs and Fortune 100 companies.

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As regular readers of this blog know, the lift business is not the same as the ski business.  Leitner-Poma, Skytrac and Doppelmayr USA have all completed projects for non-ski venues recently such as theme parks, zoos, stadiums and cruise ports.  Not only are these projects making up an increasing share of contracts, they tend to be large in scope and often include lucrative operation and maintenance deals.  Some of these non-traditional customers are in even worse shape than the ski business, more dependent on high guest densities and air travel.  Put another way, there is little chance the Walt Disney Company, Carnival Corporation or the Miami Dolphins would have signed to build their recent lift projects in today’s environment.  So-called “point of interest” projects may disappear entirely for a few years.

One bright spot could be urban transport.  The Portland Aerial Tram and Roosevelt Island Tramway have both remained operational throughout the pandemic, albeit at reduced capacity (the Portland Tram carries health care workers to three different hospitals and is about as essential as it gets.)  Large aerial tramways have been ceding market share to monocable, 2S and 3S gondolas, a trend which will probably accelerate with new personal space concerns.  With gondolas, each person or family can take their own cabin unlike on trains or buses.  There are lots of great concepts for urban gondolas in North America and infrastructure spending programs could finally get one or two off the ground.  Mexico already has a large urban gondola system in operation with two more under construction.

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News Roundup: Shovel Ready

Peter Landsman28 Comments
  • Lift construction resumes in New Zealand, where resorts are optimistic they can open next month with social distancing.
  • The Forest Service commences scoping for Lutsen Mountains’ big expansion, which would include seven new chairlifts.
  • You can also submit comments on Keystone’s Bergman Bowl project starting today.
  • The State of New York partners with Skytrac and Leitner-Poma for three fixed grip quads – two for Gore and one at Whiteface.
  • Vail Resorts provides last season’s Epic Pass holders with 20-80 percent credits and introduces free refund coverage for next winter.
  • Silver Mountain joins the Powder Alliance, Schweitzer exits.
  • Vail Resorts says goodbye to many Peak Resorts employees as planned before COVID-19.
  • The Burnaby Mountain Gondola project could benefit from an infrastructure push in Canada.
  • Wolf Creek planned to reopen this weekend but an executive order late last night extended the closure of Colorado ski areas through May 23rd.
  • Valemount, BC considers building a community ski hill.
  • I’m not an accountant but I think this filing reveals Vail Resorts has agreed with creditors not to make capital improvements of more than $200 million per year or undertake any mergers/acquisitions through January 2022.
  • Vail is also borrowing $600 million through the sale of bonds.

Ikon Pass Signs Mt. Bachelor and Windham Mountain

Peter Landsman12 Comments
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Uniquely located on a volcano, Mt. Bachelor is the largest destination resort in Oregon.

New resorts on both coasts will join Alterra’s Ikon Pass for winter 2020-21.  In central Oregon, Mt. Bachelor will become the fifth Powdr-owned mountain to sign on to Ikon following Copper, Eldora, Killington and Snowbird.  In New York’s Catskill region, independently-owned Windham Mountain will be the first Ikon destination in the Empire State.  Both new additions will offer seven day access on the full Ikon Pass and five restricted days with the Ikon Base Pass.  Ikon Pass holders will now enjoy access to 42 mountains in North America with a total of 503 lifts.  The competing Epic Pass from Vail Resorts offers 42 different mountains with 434 lifts in the US and Canada.  Both passes also include days in Europe, Asia and Australia.

“As we look ahead, we are excited to announce these new partners that represent the spirit of the Ikon Pass community, bringing added value to pass holders, at some of the lowest rates available since we launched the Ikon Pass,” said Erik Forsell, Chief Marketing Officer for Alterra Mountain Company.  “Mt. Bachelor in Oregon and Windham Mountain in New York are favorites in their regions, adding expanded access in two new states in North America and inspiring Ikon Pass holders to seek more adventures.”  Alterra recently introduced enhanced renewal savings and an Adventure Assurance program to entice buyers amid COVID-19 uncertainty.